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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27562996">The Glitch</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/alyssakittie04/pseuds/alyssakittie04'>alyssakittie04</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>N/A - Fandom, Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dystopian, Eventual Romance, F/M, Original work - Freeform, Romance, Slow Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:41:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,650</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27562996</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/alyssakittie04/pseuds/alyssakittie04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tattoo-like timers on their arms. They count down the time until they meet their soulmate. However, everything seems like it's going downhill when Leia and Ethan's timers glitch. Now they're stuck in a love triangle and have to research their way out.  Was the glitch just the universe's plan to get them together in a peculiar way? Read more to find out. Warnings: language, mild sexual themes.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ethan/Kat, Leia/Astrid, Leia/Ethan</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. -1-</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leia sighed when she saw the black, tattoo-like numbers count down slowly. They seemed to be counting down even slower these days. She kept walking along the smooth sidewalk, feeling the autumn breeze flow through her hair. She looked up from her shoes to determine how far she was from her destination. Almost there, she thought to herself. Time seemed to be moving slower ever since she started dating her new boyfriend. Yes, he was cool and fun to hang out with, and damn was he good at making her laugh, but she knew he wasn't the one. The countdown on her lower forearm would have ended as soon as she met him if he was. Even though he wasn't her soulmate, it was nice to finally have some fun for a change, instead of being in a constant state of stress. Before she had Astrid, it seemed like life had a new challenge to throw in her face at every corner. It didn't matter if she wasn't past the latest obstacle yet, those problems would come flying. At least with Astrid, life felt like it slowed down a little and gave her more time to breathe.</p><p>Leia finally reached her destination and walked up the small concrete steps to her friend Ethan's house. She knocked on the door a couple of times, stepping back on to a lower step to give him time and space to open the door. Time stood still. Everything went silent. The cool autumn wind stopped blowing. The birds that were flying past had their movements slowed to almost a complete stop. Everything in Leia's peripherals went blurry and all her eyes could focus on was the red door she stood in front of. Footsteps going toward the door seemed to fill the silence. They got louder as the person approached the door, and the sound filled Leia's ears as if it was the only noise in the world. She watched the knob turn to the right slowly. The door opened slower than the bird's wings flapped. A soft smile spread across her friend's face when the door moved out of the way enough for him to see her. Time went speeding by and caught up with everyone else's reality as soon as their eyes locked. Leia blinked. She heard the piercing sound of a Timer going off. She quickly looked down at her arm to see that her Timer had run out. Leia looked up at Ethan with a deer-in-headlights look. With his smile wiped away and a confused look in its place, he looked to his arm where his Timer was. It was still counting down. They both exchanged confused looks.</p><p>"Come on in," Ethan said, breaking the silence and opening the door wider. He stepped aside so Leia could enter.</p><p>"Thanks," Leia said as she walked inside and sat on his couch.</p><p>"Did your Timer go off?" he asked, clear signs of worry in his voice. Leia wondered if the traces of worry were because of some sort of a glitch happening or because the idea of her being his soulmate grossed him out.</p><p>"Yeah. But yours didn't?" Leia replied, pushing the thoughts out of her head. She didn't know why she was worried about Ethan not liking the idea of them being together, because it wasn't like it mattered anyway. It must have been some sort of mistake or glitch. She subconsciously moved a hand to her Timer.</p><p>"Nope. That's really weird. I wonder what it means."</p><p>"I don't know, but we could try to figure it out. There has to be some explanation in some old books down at the library. The Timer system has been around for years. Something like this has had to happen before. I'm sure it's not just us."</p><p>"Yeah," Ethan said. "I could go down later and see what I can find. You know what a good researcher I am," he said playfully. Leia rolled her eyes. Every research project they had to do in high school together, she was always in charge of research because Ethan could always wind up with the wrong information. "If I find anything explaining what happened, I can bring the books back here and we could look through them together."</p><p>"Sounds good to me! Since the library isn't open yet, do you want to go get coffee or something?" Leia asked, standing from the couch and turning to look at Ethan.</p><p>"I would, but I've got a date coming over. She's on her way now."</p><p>"Oh okay. I'll get out of your hair then. I just came down to give you back this book I borrowed," Leia said, standing back up and handing him a copy of Little Women from her purse.</p><p>"Thanks," Ethan said, grabbing the book from her. Their fingertips brushed together slightly. He saw Leia's face with a hint of a smile on it. It wasn't like they hadn't touched each other before, but those times it was in playful or platonic ways. This brush seemed a slight bit more intimate than usual. He shook his head lightly to be rid of these new thoughts.</p><p>"No problem. Text me later if you want to go do something fun downtown, if you're not busy with your fancy daaate," Leia said in a teasing way, smiling at him and walking towards the door. Ethan looked at his friend walking away from him, and a ting of sadness hit him when he thought about her leaving.</p><p>Just as that was said, there was a knock on the door. Ethan went to open it, and standing there in front of him was Kat. Kat was Ethan's ex-girlfriend. They had broken up about two months ago, which made Leia wonder what she was doing there. Ethan looked at Kat, then looked back at Leia. As soon as his eyes landed on Leia, his Timer went off. All three of them exchanged looks of confusion, Ethan being especially concerned. As Leia looked into Ethan's eyes, she could see the questions piling up. Was the Timer going off for Kat? Was it going off for her? Wouldn't the Timer have gone off as soon as he met either of them if one of them was his soulmate? Everything was making no sense. Glitches in the Timer system don't occur. Everything always played out smoothly, and glitches either never happened or were reported to the Timer office and were hidden by the government. If they were reported, why would the government hide them? Was there more to the system than they knew?</p><p>"Well, that's my cue. We have got to figure out what's going on later. See ya Ethan!" Leia said quickly, determined to get out of there as soon as possible. She hid her face while walking past Kat awkwardly, going out the door and down the sidewalk. Thoughts and questions swirled in Leia's mind as she marched down the pavement. Was she supposed to be with Ethan? She doubted they were supposed to be together, especially since she had never seen Ethan like that. Leia believed everything would figure itself out eventually, so she went on with her day like it was any other.</p><p>When Leia got home to her small apartment, she walked into her bedroom and threw her purse on her nicely made bed. She turned swiftly and fell back onto it, joining her purse. She let out a deep sigh that had some hidden frustration behind it. She allowed her thoughts that were pushed back earlier to fill her head once again, now that she could think without any distractions. With a grunt, Leia pulled herself to a sitting position on her bed and took off her heels and jacket. She sighed at how nice her feet felt on the soft carpet of her bedroom. She had made some time in between going to teach dance classes because she expected Ethan would want to hang out, and since he was out with his date, she had a lot of time to herself. Leia didn't expect the bit of jealousy that suddenly appeared in her heart when she thought of Ethan hanging out with another girl. In the past, Leia had never been possessive or felt as if she needed to control others. She was kind of controlling as a child, but when she entered adulthood and decided to start going to therapy for her own well being, she had learned to handle those controlling tendencies. Whenever Ethan said he was busy in the past, Leia thought nothing of it and went on to do her daily tasks as normal. However, as she thought back to what happened earlier that morning, she felt something slowly shift in her heart. She did see Ethan as just a friend in the past, but now with this Timer glitch, it had her thinking maybe he was what she had been looking for.</p><p>Leia stood and walked to her kitchen. As she turned on the stove and placed a teapot filled with water on the warming burner, she couldn't help but let her thoughts wander back to Ethan. His smile passed through her mind, and his throaty laugh rang through her ears. Since she had never thought about Ethan as more than a brother to her, she had never allowed herself to think about all the small things he did or said that she loved. She drowned in the thoughts of his eyes gleaming when he talked about a new book he was obsessed with, or how he always seemed so eager to let her borrow his copy of Little Women over and over because he knew she was too stubborn to take the time to buy her own. Leia was shaken out of her daydreams by the teapot screaming. She quickly took action to make the ear-shrilling sound stop and placed a teabag of her favorite tea into her large mug. While preparing her favorite beverage, she told herself she needed to calm down. She gave herself a small pep-talk, telling her brain to stop thinking of Ethan in somewhat romantic ways. Leia told herself over and over that thoughts of him taking over her mind bit by bit was normal, because friends think about each other from time to time. Yes, they probably don't replay the moments like what happened earlier with the brushing of their fingers, but still. Once the tea was not blowing streams of hot steam in her face, Leia picked up the mug and went to sit on her couch. She grabbed the remote to her television and turned it on, immediately intrigued by the news story that was airing. The camera was focused on the newscaster who was speaking quickly about some robbery at a bookstore near downtown. She clutched her mug and leaned forward, listening intently. Leia was startled by the sound of her phone ringing. Leia quickly set down her mug on the side table next to her couch and muted the television. While she was upset that she didn't get to hear the rest of the news story, her spirits immediately lifted when she saw who was calling.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. -2-</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A picture of Leia and Ethan filled Leia's phone screen as he called. She eagerly picked it up with a sweet hello.</p><p>"Heyyy Leia. I found some books at the library that could explain what's happening to us if you want to come over and check them out," Ethan said. Leia smiled at the excitement in his voice.</p><p>"Sounds great Eth. I'll be over in a bit. I have to run some errands first. What happened to your date? It's only been like an hour."</p><p>"Kat wasn't too happy to see you in my apartment, especially after what happened when we broke up. I guess you could say it put a damper on the afternoon. I decided it would probably be a better and more fun use of my time to figure out what's happening to us. Plus I get to see you again in the process, so you know, win win." Leia could hear his shrug in that last sentence. She admired how sweet he was to prioritize their situation.</p><p>"You've always been such a sap. I'm sorry I ruined your date." Leia said, trying to sound remorseful, but barely succeeding. In reality, she and Kat weren't the best of friends, and she was secretly happy to have somewhat sabotaged her getting the chance to break Ethan's heart all over again.</p><p>"It's fine, I don't blame you. You know Kat, always so paranoid. She knows we've always been just friends, but she refuses to admit we couldn't be more than that. She's always thought we were secretly together."</p><p>Leia felt her eyes sting a bit as she listened to Ethan. She wasn't sure why she was upset with his saying they were just friends, because that's what they were, friends. She wasn't sure what was making her feel this way, but it freaked her out.</p><p>"Totally. Don't know why she would think that," Leia said, forcing a chuckle. "Anyway, I'm going to go run my errands and then I'll be over."</p><p>"Sounds good. Be safe, love ya."</p><p>"Love ya."</p><p>Leia hung up the phone and clutched it to her chest. Her tears that had suddenly appeared were gone, but a new feeling was rising up inside her. She couldn't pinpoint what was beginning, but she knew once it was there, it wouldn't go away. She pressed the scary new feeling down as deep as she could manage. For now, she would try to forget about Ethan's words, or his soft touch and gentle reminders to stay safe and well.</p><p>⥈</p><p>Leia failed miserably at her attempt to keep her mind off Ethan. Ever since the Timer incident last week, something seemed different to her about their relationship. She thought it must've been that her Timer had gone off for him, and it's something she's been looking forward to her whole life. Leia told herself that she was just getting too overly excited because of all the built-up anticipation of the Timers. She tried to apply reason to these newfound "feelings," if you could even call them that, and thought for the moment she could repress them when she was around Ethan.</p><p>Once Leia ran her last errand for the day, she walked toward the direction of Ethan's house. She took in the warm sunshine as she treaded on to find out what new information he had learned since last week. During their last visit, they concurred that they in fact did not have most of the information they needed in books at the library. Instead, Ethan said he would run to the nearest Timer office and see if there were any records he could find on glitches in the system or anything relating to their situation. On Leia's way to Ethan's, she noticed that her forearm was hurting where her Timer was. She looked down just in time to see the small Timer reset its numbers. 1 minute. Leia pulled out her phone and called Ethan.</p><p>"Hey! You on your way?" Ethan asked once he answered the phone.</p><p>"Yeah, I'm walking there right now. My arm where my Timer is was hurting, so I looked down and the numbers seemed to reset."</p><p>"That's weird! Mine just did the same thing! What time does yours say?"</p><p>Leia looked down at her Timer.</p><p>"It said 1 minute at first. Now it's resetting to... 12 seconds?"</p><p>"Mine too! This is getting out of hand! Where are y..." Ethan trailed off.</p><p>Leia looked up to see Ethan stopped, a couple of feet in front of her. The heart-turning sound of Timers went off. This time, both of their Timers went off at the same time. Leia and Ethan put their phones down.</p><p>"What the hell?!" Leia said. At this point, she was more than frustrated.</p><p>"The universe has got to be fucking with us."</p><p>"What else could it be?"</p><p>Leia and Ethan walked together down the smooth sidewalk in silence. Once they had turned onto Ethan's street, Leia finally spoke.</p><p>"What were you doing out here anyway? I thought you were home because you didn't have anything else to do," Leia asked.</p><p>"Kat asked me to come over and help her with her clogged toilet? It was unclogged when I got there so I guess she just wanted an excuse to have me come over, even though she could've just asked."</p><p>"Oh..." Leia said. Her face fell.</p><p>"What's wrong?" Ethan asked, a worried expression spreading on his face.</p><p>"Nothing, it's just this whole Timer thing. It's stressing me out more than I thought it would," Leia lied. How could she explain to him that she didn't know why she was sad to hear that he was going over to Kat's.</p><p>"Oh. Yeah. I feel that. We'll figure it out though. You're one of the smartest people I know, Leia. I know if we put our brain power together we can fix this." As they talked, Leia felt Ethan's fingers brush against her own. It was the smallest gesture that would've seemed insignificant a few weeks ago, but now it meant so much to Leia.</p><p>"You're right," Leia said. The two finally arrived at Ethan's house and went in. There was a big stack of books and files sitting on the coffee table.</p><p>Leia walked over, sat on the couch, and picked up a book that was on the top of the stack. She read the title out loud.</p><p>"The Dummy's Guide To Timers. I don't think this is about arm Timers, Eth," Leia said, rolling her eyes and flipping through the pages.</p><p>"Maybe not, but I thought I'd give it a try. Here, look at this one. This is one of the only helpful ones I got from the library," Ethan said, picking up a thicker book and handing it to her. "The Glitch."</p><p>"Interesting. What does it say?" Leia asked, putting down the other book and taking The Glitch from Ethan's hand.</p><p>"Let's find out!" Ethan said enthusiastically, jumping over the back of his couch and plopping onto the cushion next to her. Leia couldn't help but throw her head back and laugh at Ethan's pure ridiculousness.</p><p>After hours and hours of researching, the two were exhausted. It was around 1am, and they had decided to just watch a movie to get some rest. Leia had ended up falling asleep on Ethan's shoulder. Ethan had his arm up on the back of the couch. When Leia fell asleep, Ethan wrapped his arm around her. He didn't know why, but it made him happy to see he snuggled into him. He watched as her chest rose and fell gently, feeling her slow breath tickling his shoulder. She was sleeping so peacefully, and he didn't want to wake her just because the movie was over. Instead, he tried his best to lay her down nicely on the couch without waking her, because he wanted to go to bed in his own bed. He was successful and quietly marched to bed happy, even though there was so much stress surrounding him recently. He didn't really mind it, because he was happy to be working with Leia. They hadn't hung out in a while because both of their lives really got in the way, especially with the required work times the government had set in when they picked their professions. He was glad he and Leia finally got to spend some quality time together.</p><p>Ethan lied in bed, trying to go to sleep. Usually, he would think about work, chores he has to get done tomorrow so his apartment wouldn't be a wreck, or Kat. This night was different. He lied in bed thinking about Leia. He thought about how her face scrunched when she laughed, how her eyes lit up and her hands moved around as she talked, and even how she would touch his arm to comfort him when he was upset. She always seemed to calm him down. He loved so many things about her. He loved her.</p><p>Ethan never thought he would have any romantic feelings toward his best friend again. After they first met, he had developed a massive crush on Leia. Once they got closer as friends, he realized that dating her would mean possibly messing up one of the best things in his life. He dreaded the thought of losing her friendship, so from then on he vowed to himself never to date her, no matter how strong his feelings were. His strong romantic feelings later developed into strong platonic feelings, and Ethan was glad he kept his vow. He had always been thankful to have Leia in his life to steer him on the right path and keep him in line. She never let him go off and do stupid things that could've possibly ended with him hurt. As he stayed there, he ran over all the little things she did. He was beginning to realize how much he truly did care for Leia. He'd always known that he couldn't handle it if something were to happen to her or their friendship, but he'd always thought about that as strictly platonic worry. He caught himself thinking about how her smile would become slightly crooked if it was big enough, or how she would playfully punch him if he said something stupid. He had never noticed before the bits of electricity that sparked through them when they touched until the other day when their fingers brushed together.</p><p>Ethan spent all night going through all of his and Leia's old conversations in his head, and when he hauled himself out of bed in the morning, he was even more exhausted than he was the previous night. Throughout that day, he thought about what would happen if she found out about the things he had been thinking about. He was paranoid she could somehow read his mind. He told himself he couldn't let Leia know what ran through his head. Besides, it wasn't like thoughts of him kept her up all night, right?</p><p>⥈</p><p>Leia woke up that morning with a smile on her face. She's not really a morning person, but this morning something changed in her. Maybe it was because she was in Ethan's apartment and the excitement of getting to see him as soon as she got up shot through her. She got off the couch and went into Ethan's room. Ethan apparently was finally able to fall asleep for a few minutes. Leia didn't know that he had been up all night. When she fell asleep on Ethan's shoulder, she was out for good. Leia climbed onto his bed on top of his covers and wrapped her arms around him. He slowly awakened, wrapping his arms around her waist as an immediate response to the affection.</p><p>"Good morning sunshine!" she whispered gently.</p><p>"Well good morning to you too," Ethan said, placing one hand on Leia's back and the other on his eyes, rubbing them.</p><p>"How'd you sleep?" Leia asked.</p><p>"Uh, I slept alright. What about you? Was the couch comfortable enough?"</p><p>"Yeah, it was pretty nice. My back hurts a little though."</p><p>"Well, we can't have that! I'll have to order a whole new couch!" Ethan teased. Leia giggled.</p><p>The two talked for a long time, just laying there in each other's arms. It seemed like something a couple would do, but that's usually just how their relationship was. They were very affectionate and goofy towards each other, not to mention sarcastic. Everything was calm and quiet. Eventually their chatter became scattered whispers as they both got sleepy again and ended up falling back asleep. The apartment lay still and tranquil until Kat unlocked Ethan's apartment with the key she had for emergencies and went looking for him rather loudly. She opened up his bedroom door to see the two napping in that lovey-dovey relationship stance. She felt her face begin to heat up and felt a familiar pain in her chest as she left the room, slamming the door behind her. The slam jolted the two awake, and they were both very tired and very confused. Ethan jumped up to make sure there were no burglars in his house. He got to his living room just in time to see Kat about to walk out the front door. He heard her repeating to herself something about her knowing it.</p><p>"Kat? What are you doing here?" Ethan asked, confused.</p><p>"We were supposed to have lunch! I can't believe you're cheating on me! Especially with HER! You even told me she meant nothing to you! I can't believe you would lie to me again." Kat yelled, the burning feeling in her face intensifying.</p><p>"What? There's nothing going on between Leia and I, Kat. Besides, you and I aren't even together! Nothing happened, and it's not cheating because we aren't dating!" Ethan said, pointing from her back to him.</p><p>"Whatever Ethan. I'm done putting up with your shit again. We're so over this time. Don't even think about calling me!" Kat yelled. With that, Kat ran out the front door, slamming it behind her. </p><p>Ethan was frustrated. He walked back into his room to see Leia on the verge of tears.</p><p>"Leia?"</p><p>"So I'm nothing to you?" Leia asked, her voice breaking. She looked up and met his eyes. A single tear rolled down her cheek.</p><p>"No, that's not what I meant when I told her that. I meant-"</p><p>"I don't care, Ethan. I'm leaving." Leia got up from the bed and swiftly moved past him.</p><p>She quickly picked up all her things that were left scattered around the living room the night before. Ethan kept trying to explain himself, but Leia didn't hear any of it. She walked out the front door and ran down the sidewalk towards her street. By this point, tears were rapidly streaming down her face. She couldn't believe what she had heard. Feelings of anger and betrayal were beginning to rise up inside her as she stormed down the pavement. She couldn't decide if she wanted Ethan to run after her or not. She concluded it would probably be best if he didn't, because who knows what would come out of her mouth if she saw him now. Now she definitely couldn't tell him about her new feelings for him. She went home and cried for the rest of the day. What Kat said kept repeating in her mind over and over. Ethan didn't know how he was going to get himself out of this one.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. -3-</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two months. Two months had passed since Ethan and Leia had made up. After a long and grueling evening on Leia's couch crying, talking through feelings, and over 100 apologies, Leia felt like she could start to trust Ethan again. They set boundaries when it came to sleepovers, mainly to please Kat. After all was smoothed over, things seemed to go back to normal, or at least it felt like normal for a bit. Some weeks later, Ethan and Kat got back together officially, for real this time. They were now considered "exclusive," and Kat wouldn't shut up about it. She spread the word of their reuniting faster than the spread of the Black Plague, which in Leia's mind were similar in the sense of fatality. She thought if she heard Kat boasting about their relationship one more time she would become fatally ill. Ethan was unsure when it came to his love life. After the night Ethan couldn't get Leia out of his head, he couldn't seem to look at her the same. He was unsure why or what had changed, but frankly he was too scared to go looking for reasons. Ethan thought if he could just distract himself with Kat, it would help their friendly relationship stay friendly. Of course, neither of the girls knew that.</p><p>Kat was Ethan's type a long time ago, but over the years it seemed that he'd matured and she did not, which was a turn off for him. He still found her beautiful, but the way she ran around spreading rumors about people she didn't like or letting every person on the face of the earth what she had for breakfast just seemed so childish to him. It in some way reminded him of high school, which was not an experience he wanted to remember. She would become irrationally angry with him if he didn't text her all day every day, or even answer one of her texts right away. It didn't matter to her how busy he was or if he was trying to be productive. Kat was, as a light way to put it, selfish. The only reason Ethan stayed with her was because there was no one else to prevent him from having a moment to think. It sounds sad, and somewhat abusive, yes, but desperate times call for desperate measures. With her always breathing down Ethan's neck, Ethan had no room to think about how Leia was so much better than Kat in every way, not that Kat would allow that kind of thinking anyway.</p><p>Meanwhile, Leia was still putting up with her boyfriend Astrid. From Ethan's point of view, she seemed to be getting short with Astrid and irritated more easily. He could tell something had changed in her, but wasn't sure what. Ethan was getting frustrated with all the uncertainties. He noticed the way Leia always used to gush about their dates, but it seemed like she was slowly starting to dislike him more and more as time went on. Leia herself didn't know what was causing it. All she knew was that her feelings for Ethan continued to linger, there in the back of her mind, like vines growing up a stone wall. The feelings would grow slowly, but she knew soon they'd get so commodious that she'd have to cut them down from the source to keep them from sprouting back. The more Leia focused her time and energy on Astrid, the more she saw his jealousy of Ethan growing. Every time she came home from Ethan's she would get a long lecture from Astrid, as if she was back to being a teenager and was coming home way past curfew. Whether it was about being out "too late" or about something stupid that didn't matter to her in the slightest, Astrid always seemed to have a bone to pick with her.</p><p>Leia was scared about what would happen when she came home that night. She had stayed at Ethan's to research their glitch. They found some useful information that they decided to keep hidden from anyone besides them for the moment. They were hatching a plan, and Leia hadn't checked her phone in 3 hours. It wasn't until she was packing up that she looked down and realized she had 30 missed calls and text messages from Astrid. Her blood ran cold and her cheeks became warm when she realized what she was in for when she left. She despised getting scolded, especially when she was a grown woman and had the freedom to do whatever she wanted with her life. At one point she was considering begging Ethan for sanctuary, but she knew Kat wouldn't be happy about the ambush and eventually Astrid would come knocking, knowing she was there. She shoved the idea out of her mind, deciding it wasn't a valid choice. It had seemed her only option was to go home to a lecture. As she stepped out into the cool August breeze, she shuddered. Leia wasn't sure if the sudden movement was caused by the fall wind rushing through her sweater or if it was caused by the idea of what she was going to have to endure. Ethan, seeing the movement and being the gentleman he always is, offered Leia his jacket. She took it, knowing the walk was going to be a cold one. He grabbed a cream-colored faux fur mid jacket and handed it to her. She took it gratefully, wrapping it around herself and starting off. She drew in a deep breath, and Ethan's warm scent filled her lungs, bringing a small smile to her face.</p><p>A small smile remained until Leia closed her apartment door, locking it and turning around. Her stomach dropped. Astrid was waiting on the couch for her, a stern look spread across his face. His arms were folded across his chest and his left foot was rigorously tapping against the hardwood floor. The room felt heavy and dark, even though the lamp in the corner was giving off plenty of light.</p><p>"Where the fuck have you been?" Astrid said, standing from the couch and storming over to Leia. She could see the fiery anger burning in his eyes.</p><p>"Ethan's? Where else? Why?"</p><p>"I have been calling you for hours. I didn't get a single 'hey, can't talk!' or anything! You had me worried sick!"</p><p>"God, sorry. Thought I could go to my friend's house without having to worry about updating you on my every move. Guess not," Leia fired back, rolling her eyes.</p><p>"You're always at Ethan's. You never ask to come to my apartment. We never even go on dates anymore! It's like you don't have time for me."</p><p>"I'm just trying to figure out what's happening with this whole Timer thing! That's all!"</p><p>"Well, if you're going to be so overly occupied with your little side piece or whatever, I don't want you to see him anymore. Is that his jacket? God, you're obsessed, aren't you?!"</p><p>"What? Astrid, no! First, I can't do that. He's my best friend. Second, yes, he was being a gentleman and lent it to me because he could feel how cold it is outside," Leia said. She could feel anger rising in her as well.</p><p>"Oh come on now! Who do you care about more? Your boyfriend, or some nobody 'friend' who's only hanging out with you because he wants to figure out what's wrong with your Timer. You really think he actually likes spending time with you? He is trying so hard to figure out what malfunctioned with the Timers so he doesn't have to be stuck with you as his soulmate for the rest of his life!"</p><p>"I-" Leia tried to speak up for her friendship.</p><p>"Don't you dare interrupt me! Ethan knows you two aren't supposed to be soulmates. He couldn't possibly see you as more than a friend or acquaintance anyway because of that. You're crazy if you think there could ever be something between you two. Besides, he has Kat. You really think..." Astrid sneered rigidly.</p><p>Leia stopped listening after that. The more she thought about it, the more Astrid made perfect sense. How could she be so stupid as to think he would like her as more than a friend. He had Kat. Kat made him happy. Tears prickled her eyelids as she thought. They almost never fought anymore that she knew of, and she gave Ethan everything he wanted. Then why, Leia thought, why did he look at her like she was the only girl in the world. When Leia, Astrid, Kat, and Ethan went on double dates, all of his attention was on her. She always caught Ethan looking at her with a soft look on his face when she was reading a book, or when he was making dinner for the two of them when they had their late-night study sessions. Why was Leia the first person he called when anything happened, whether it be something exciting or something he felt like he couldn't handle alone.</p><p>She snapped out herself of drowning in her own thoughts and back into reality to hear Astrid droning on about Ethan and Kat's "perfect" relationship.</p><p>"They're perfect together. I can just tell they're meant to be. Let it go, Leia. You need to focus on the people in your life that are actually important," Astrid paused, walking closer to Leia and wrapping his arm around her, eliminating any of the personal space between them that was left. "Like me."</p><p>Somehow, him saying that shifted something in her mind. It felt wrong, even. Deep down something clicked. She didn't want this. She didn't want to deal with this anymore. She was tired of being trapped. She was tired of being lectured every time she came home late from anywhere, especially Ethan's. She was tired of being told that there are more important things in her life than him, even when she felt there wasn't.</p><p>That one time specifically made her blood boil when she thought about it. One late night she stumbled into her apartment after doing some fun (and slightly drunk) research with Ethan and she ended up getting reprimanded by Astrid. Whenever she thought of that not so fun memory, she wanted to crawl into a ball under her covers and cry. Looking back at all these moments, it made Leia realize that she didn't deserve all the lectures she got for having fun and being herself. She's an adult, after all. Astrid seemed to enjoy treating her like a child. Leia's shoulders stiffened under Astrid's cold touch. She wormed her way out of his grasp and faced him. Using the little courage she had built up, she spoke.</p><p>"No."</p><p>"No? What do you mean no?"</p><p>"I'm not going to continue to stand here and take all your lectures."</p><p>"Leia-"</p><p>"I don't want to hear your excuses. I want you out."</p><p>"Wha-? I don't understand."</p><p>"I want you out of my apartment!"</p><p>" But... all my stuff-?"</p><p>"Pack it quickly. If it's not gone by 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, it's getting burned."</p><p>"C'mon babe, we can work this out!"</p><p>"I don't think we can. You better start packing. You've only got 9 hours to get all your shit figured out."</p><p>Without another word, Astrid started rushing around, tripping over himself, stuffing his belongings into bags, and sputtering out curses as he went. Leia quietly left. She shut her door, locked it, and started back down the sidewalk. She walked quickly and with a purpose until she finally reached Ethan's house. She knocked a couple of times on his door and stepped back, waiting for him to open the door. As soon as Leia heard him ask what she was doing here at 10 o'clock at night, tears started spilling out faster than they ever have. Ethan took her into his arms and brought her into his apartment.</p><p>It took a long time for Leia to stammer out what had happened through sobs. Ethan remained quiet, patiently waiting for her to finish speaking. After she finally got it all out, Ethan wiped away tears on her cheeks with his thumb and held her face in his hands until she was calm. He consoled her and spoke calming words to her in a quiet tone. He knew how important it was to be gentle with her when she was upset, something Astrid never picked up on. Leia appreciated how much he knew her and how he always knew just what to do. Without any forethought, she felt herself lean into him. Their lips touched gently, forming a much-needed kiss. It seemed to lift the heaviness off her heart, and they both seemed to convey feelings they didn't know they had through the kiss. As it slowed, time seemed to as well. Leia felt safe in Ethan's arms, and Ethan felt as if he was home, her in his arms. It felt to them as if this is where they belonged all along, and they were finally able to enjoy a quiet and still moment in each other's presence. This was their safe space, and neither of them could ask for anything better.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And there's another chapter for ya! I hope the ending was descriptive enough. I'd appreciate any feedback you have! :) ~💜alyssakittie04💜~</p>
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